"Bird by bird" has been a family saying ever since reading Anne Lamott's book of the same title to describe tasks that seem so monumental as to be impossible. The gist of her wonderful anecdote (about her father's advice to her brother who had procrastinated about doing a report on birds -- all the birds) is to take it one step at a time, and eventually, you'll get there.

That's what I have to keep in mind. When I'm standing in the crowded Hatfield Historical Museum in the large second floor room of Dickinson Memorial Hall (built in 1894) with its high ceilings and covered-over windows, it is easy to feel overwhelmed. Should we finish doing data entry on new acquisitions, photograph items to be cataloged, or start going through brown paper bags stashed beneath tables? (donations that were dropped off years ago at a busy time or in between curators and needed a safe place to sit until being reviewed and cataloged...). Or should we instead rescue items from their acidic frames -- things like sepia-toned old photos of tobacco workers or exquisite19th century needlework samplers done by 8- and 11-year-olds?

As an all-volunteer nonprofit that was started 40 years ago (in 1970) on the occasion of the town's 300th anniversary, we find ourselves in the position of too many organizations, where many of the founding members who have played the pivotal roles all these years are now ready to play ancillary roles (or have passed on), but not enough new members have been brought in to replace them. So add to the "to do" list above: solicit new members who like history and/or old things. Oh, and while we're at it, we also need to let the town and the neighboring communities know we're here and how much cool stuff we have. We need to generate buzz!

Don't get crazy now -- bird by bird.

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Curator's musings...

As the curator of a small town Historical Society museum, I wonder a great many things. Am I alone in these thoughts that come to me while driving, or exercising, or falling asleep at night? Is it unusual to be constructing displays and writing copy in one's head for an enlarged museum space that does not, as yet, exist?

If you're wondering about the blog title, "Bird by bird," see my First Post for an explanation! Click HERE to read it.

When I'm not thinking about our museum or rehousing artifacts with my fellow museum committee members, I'm helping out with the Pioneer Valley History Network (of which I'm a board member), collecting or editing digital oral histories (see words.pictures.stories)or keeping track of my two teenage kids.